Media Briefing - Monday 12 May 2014

Media Briefing by a Scottish Government Spokesperson - Monday 12 May 2014

The Scottish Government Spokesperson (SGS) welcomed journalists to the briefing and ran through the day's key events:

The Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioner’s Rights, Shona Robison, are today undertaking a visit to Glasgow to highlight the publication of a new Scottish Government research paper on pensions. The paper shows that men and women who have the same state pension entitlement will get less in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, if we stay tied to the Westminster pension and welfare system, due to lower life expectancy. For example, when comparing Glasgow with Harrow, which has the highest life expectancy for men in the UK, there would be a pension gap of £50,000 according to the research undertaken.

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead, is meeting in Edinburgh with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, to discuss key farming and fisheries issues.